Crash
by Pichigaru
Summary: LOL yu guysss are so fuken retardeddd. I haked dis account and now imma do anythin i want with dis story, cuz all of u r fuken twihard necrophelliacs and betsiality dipshits. haha lol losers
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is my first story ever, so constructive criticism is gladly taken. :) Enjoy!

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><p>Crash<p>

By Pichigaru

Chapter 1

_I hadn't meant to hit him with my car. I was just driving along the road and when I rounded the bend... the wolf had just run out of the woods. _

A black Jeep drove around the bend on the long, twisting road, just as a large blur of gray fur ran out in front of it, and the two objects collided with a screech of tires and a yelp of surprise. The girl inside the truck screamed, and the airbag exploded, snapping her head back with a painful crunch. Blood trickled down her face, and with a shaky hand she reached up to the source of her blood: her forehead had been ripped open by shards of glass. She glanced down at her arms and tried not to scream again. They, too, were cut up with glass and her left arm had a long, thick piece of glass lodged deeply into it, halfway up her elbow. She closed her eyes and tried to calm the thundering of her heart. It was beating much too quickly.

She then heard a whimper of pain. It did not come from her, but from the animal lodged in her windshield. She looked at it, and she hiccoughed in shock.

Her lungs seemed to stop short, and the clouds of breath that once had been coming from her in rapid, faltering bursts of fear stilled. She had hit a wolf. Trying not to hurt herself or the creature even more than she already had, she pulled her phone from the purse beside her, and quickly hit speed dial one. She placed it on speaker; she could not hold it up to her face.

"Nine-one-one, state your emergency," a woman's voice came through the phone.

"Help," the girl breathed out, starting to tremble from the adrenaline.

"I crashed into… into an animal. We're both hurt. I'm about a mile or two away from Forks. I'm scared." She tried to relay as much information as possible, but her last sentence had burst from her mouth without her mind willing it.

"I'll send an ambulance and Animal Rescue right over, ma'am. Please stay on the phone with me until they arrive. What's your name, miss?"

"Tala… Tala Nayely Brooks." She began breathing again, and glanced at the wolf, whose eyes were closed. Some of his fur was matted down with blood, and there were shards of glass stuck in him all over. Slowly with her free hand- the one with, unfortunately, the most glass imbedded into her skin- she reached down to unbuckle herself so she would be able to sit upright. Her back was sore from her cramped position.

"Tala? Are you still there? Tala?"

Tala felt as if a bucket of water was thrown over her head as the woman's voice reached her brain, and she answered the dispatcher. "Yes, I'm here. I'm just… I'm cold, and scared."

"That's understandable, Tala. Do you have any family? Is there anyone that you want to be notified of what happened today?"

"No, I don't have any more family. They're… kind of too far away to reach, y'know?"

"Ah, I see. Well, any friends you would like to notify?"

"Sam. Sam Uley? I was on my way to his house. I'm staying with him for a while. Until I turn eighteen. He lives in La Push. He's on my Emergency Contacts, I think." She sighed, watching her breath float away from her in the cold, quickly darkening air.

"Yes, he's right here. I'll have someone contact him."

Tala nodded, and then realized that the dispatcher couldn't actually see her. "Um, yeah, thanks."

The quiet whine of the ambulance sirens echoed through the twilight sky, disrupting the unsettling calm of the area.

"Hey, um… sorry, I didn't catch your name..?" Tala said to the phone.

"I'm Anna," she said, with a smile in her voice.

"Anna. That's a cute name. Well, Anna… the ambulance is here. Do I stay on, or do you hang up or something?" Tala questioned, finally spotting the brightness of the ambulances lights through the trees- they would be there in five minutes, at most.

"I can stay on the line if you want me to," Anna replied.

"No, no, I don't want to clog the system. Thank you, Anna. You're…" Tala laughed at what she was about to say. "You're a lifesaver."

Anna laughed. She had a nice laugh, like bells. "Not a problem, Tala. Goodbye." The phone call ended and the dial tone sounded.

Tala cracked a small smile at the phone. She didn't notice that something was moving on the hood of her car until it was far too late. The wolf snarled and pounced on her, saliva dripping steadily from its maw. Tala screamed, and the wolf looked right at her, its eyes crazed. It dug its claws into her shoulders, ripping her skin even more than it already was. Then it stopped, and the maniac look it had been giving her softened, and now the dark grey wolf stared at her as if in… awe? No, Tala was just imagining it. But there they were, girl and wolf, staring into each other's eyes. Tala reached out to touch its muzzle, not feeling the pain of the wolf's unnaturally heavy weight on her small frame, or that his sharp claws were digging into her skin.

The ambulance rounded the corner the second her hand met the side of the wolf's grey fur. It was soft. But suddenly, the wolf was gone, while she was stuck in her car unable to move, and all she could see of where the wolf had gone was the quivering underbrush on the left side of the road, as the sky opened up and began to cry.

The next few minutes were a blur: people were grabbing the car door and opening it, laying her down onto a stretcher, loading her into the ambulance and pulling the shards of glass from her body.

"Your leg is broken, and we have to set it now. Don't worry, you'll be fine, and your dad is on the way to the hospital."

The only thing Tala remembered was trying to explain to the medic that Sam wasn't her father, and then screaming in pain as they set her leg before she blacked out.

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><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.<em>

Tala's eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurry.

"Tala? Tala! Oh, thank God you're awake." A tall, muscled male was sitting by her bedside, and so was a woman. As Tala's vision slowly cleared, her eyes focused to see Sam looking at her with a relieved look on his face.

"Sup, Sam?" Tala said groggily. "Long time no see."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You scared the hell out of me, Brooks. Never do that again. I knew I should have picked you up from the airport."

Tala smiled as she sat up. Her shoulder throbbed suddenly, and everything that had happened the day before flooded her mind. "What happened to the wolf I hit? Is he okay?"

Sam looked at her oddly. "There was no wolf. You ran into a tree, Tala."

"Maybe you were seeing things. You did lose a lot of blood. And there's no such thing as wolves the size of bears." Sam's wife, Emily, said kindly.

Tala looked at her suspiciously. "I never said how big it was, Emily." She sighed. "I suppose you're right, anyway. Wolves don't have human emotions, and they don't look at you like-"

"Like what?" Sam questioned. His voice sounded clipped and short.

Tala looked at him oddly. "I dunno, it was kind of weird, actually. It was kind of like how you look at Emily."

Then, Tala snorted. "But like Em said, I lost a lot of blood and hit my head. I was probably moping about having to leave California. Ignore my stupid woozy headed-ness."

Sam shared a worried look with Emily. "Whatever you say, Tala. Emily'll stay with you until you're able to leave. She'll take you home then. I have to go to work. Boss won't let me off."

Tala smiled tiredly at him and Emily.

Sam got up, patted her head and left, just as she dozed off into another short sleep.

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><p>The car ride to La Push was silent except for the loud rumbling of the motor and the occasional static of the radio.<p>

Tala spoke up just as they turned into the driveway. "Hey, thanks for picking me up, Emily. I'm really sorry about the car crash, I don't even know what happened-"

Emily smiled at her, the scars on her face stretching a little and whitening at the edges. "Not a problem. It was an accident, and it wasn't your fault."

"Em, I ran into a tree. That's what Dr. Cullen said, anyway. I was hurt so bad I imagined that I had run into a wolf. It was my fault- I probably didn't have the wipers on or the fog was too thick." Tala sighed.

"I'll just have to fix my truck up when my arm and leg heal. And then try to get a job at the veterinarian office in Forks, if they have one."

Emily smiled. "Well, I'm sure they have an opening for you. They'll hire you in an instant."

For the first time in a long while, Tala smiled.

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><p>Tala sat on a bar stool in Emily's kitchen, helping Emily cut shapes into the cookie dough when the door burst open and six colossal people crowded into the tiny kitchen. Tala toppled off the stool in surprise, smacking her arm on the wall and smashing her head against her crutches. She clutched at her head, and heard a booming laugh.<p>

"You okay?" A hand was offered, and she took it.

"Thanks, you just really surprised me." Tala looked up at the owner of the arm. He was tall, with a huge smile that reached his eyes.

"I'm Jared. Nice to meet you."

"Same here. I'm-"

"Tala, right?" Jared grinned at her surprised expression. "Sam talks about you a lot during p- uh, work."

"Oh." And that summed up Tala's small talk skills.

After being hoisted up and back onto her stool, she was introduced to the rest of the men who now inhabited the kitchen.

"I'm Quil. Nice to meetcha."

"I like your hat. I'm Brady."

"I'm Jacob. Nice cast."

"What? Um- thanks-"

"Can I sign your cast? I'm Seth, by the way, and this is my sister, Leah." The smallest of the very large boys gestured to a girl who was half hidden behind all the bodies.

Leah grunted a hello.

"Hi, Leah. I like your haircut," Tala said sincerely.

Leah cracked the smallest of smiles; you could barely see it. "Thanks."

Tala smiled back at her, and continued to stamp out cookies. "And yes, you can sign my cast, Seth. Everyone can, I suppose."

This led to a rather large scuffle for the only Sharpie that wasn't pink and still had ink in it. Tala held out her leg and waited as the guys signed her cast in an array of both crazily scribbled and neatly printed lettering.

Just as Jacob finished signing her cast, Sam walked into the house, along with another very tall, muscled male.

"Okay, there are officially steroids in the water here," Tala muttered to herself.

Jacob grinned at her, and Seth chuckled.

"Hey, Tala. Meet Paul. He's part of our dysfunctional family, too."

"What? I'm not dysfunctional. If anything, it's Seth that's dysfunctional- being so goddamn happy all the time." Jared quipped.

Seth punched him in the arm, still grinning happily.

Tala smiled nervously at Paul. "Hi. I'm Ta-"

"I know who you are. Sam told me you crashed into a tree. Go get driving lessons before you even think about getting near a car." Paul sneered, stalked into the kitchen, grabbed some food and left.

Tala felt anger wash over her, and she clutched the side of the counter so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Hey, Tala. Don't worry about him. He's an ass to everybody." Sam said, handing her a cookie sheet to put the cookie dough on.

"I gathered that," Tala muttered as she slapped the cookie dough onto the sheet unceremoniously.

There was a pensive silence.

"So what do you like to do, Tala?" Quil asked, sitting on the counter, his head brushing against the ceiling.

Tala shrugged. "Watch movies, fix cars, eat food, take care of animals. Why?"

Quil grinned. "I can drive you to the vet today, if you want. I have nothing to do. I also want you to meet Claire. She's my im- uh, she's the little kid I take care of."

"Thanks, but I-"

"Cool!" Quil grabbed her crutches and held them out to her. "Claire gets outta school in twenty minutes."

Tala looked to Emily for help.

Emily just smiled at her, encouraging her to go along with him.

She grumbled, and took her crutches from Quil. "Okay." She hoisted herself onto the crutches and tried to smile at Emily. "I'll see you later, then?"

"Yes. And please, bring Tala back in one piece, Quil," Emily said jokingly.

"Will do, Emily." Quil grinned, and grabbed an umbrella for the rain that hadn't let up since the night of the crash.

Quil and Tala made their way through the living room, where the others were all squashed onto the couch watching the Winter Olympics, which were occurring in Vancouver.

"COME ON, USA! BEAT THOSE CANADIANS! WOOOOOO-!" the boys bellowed at the small TV set, while Leah just looked on with a smirk as she ate fries out of a bowl.

While Quil helped Tala into his truck, another tall male walked up to Emily's house.

"Quil! Is Sam in the house?" He walked up to the car.

Quil closed the passenger door and leaned against his truck, facing the newcomer. "Yeah. Have you met Tala yet?"

He looked quizzically at Quil. "Who?"

"The kid that Emily and Sam are taking care of. She's like, Emily's sixth cousin three times removed or something." Quil replied, gesturing at Tala in the car.

Tala watched the exchange from the car and decided to roll down the window and say hello. Maybe she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of this guy.

"Oh, hey Tala. This is Embry. Embry, meet Tala." Quil moved out of the way.

Embry looked up at Tala and froze. His jaw flopped open like a fish's and he blinked rapidly. "You-"

"Er, hello." Tala replied. _He's sort of cute,_ she thought. Apparently, her mouth took that as a cue to embarrass her. "Do all of you take steroids or something? Because, they're kind of bad for you," She blurted out, and then almost immediately turned bright red and buried her head into her neon green jacket, hitting her head on the window frame in her hurry.

Quil began to howl in laughter.

Tala's ears turned a very dark crimson color.

Embry smiled. "No, I'm just tall. Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard."

When Tala looked up to reply, he was standing right in front of the truck, his face lowered right next to hers.

Tala yelped in surprise. "Yes! Fine! I'm fine!"

He chuckled. "How's your leg?"

"Leg? What? My leg's fine." Tala almost yelled, her words tripping over the other. God, she sucked at talking to people.

"You sure? I heard it was broken." Embry said, and nodded at her crutches.

Realization dawned in Tala's eyes. "Oh. That leg. Well, broken is hardly okay, I think-"

Embry grinned and started laughing. "You think?" He stopped laughing then. "You're cute." He smiled and went into the house with a skip in his step.

"What…?" Tala said half an hour later.

Quil looked at her oddly. "What do you mean, 'what'?"

"Never mind." Tala sighed, looking out the car window at all the green flashing by. It began to rain.

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><p>So, that's my first chapter EVER. Thoughts? I update every Friday, mostly because I'm going to be starting school again this Monday, and my amazing BETA Reader, <strong>MySuperAwesomePenName<strong> is also in school (P.S. Go read their stories. They're awesome).

Until next Friday,

Pichi


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to everybody who reviewed! It made me so happy! Here's Chapter Two!

Disclaimer: Bella's still a character, yeah? I don't own.

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><p>\m\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/

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><p>Crash<p>

Chapter 2

"Quilly! Who's that!" Claire pointed at Tala, her eyes sparkling. Quil smiled down at her.

"She's Emily's cousin. Her name is Tala." Tala smiled at the little girl, who was strapped inside the bright pink car seat in the front of Quill's truck.

"Her foot looks funny."

"I broke it."

Claire's eyes grew wide. "Broken?" she gasped. "Quilly! Tally's broken!"

Tala giggled to herself, and Quil chuckled. "No, she only broke her foot. She'll be fine soon."

Claire let out an audible sigh of relief. "Good. Broken people isn't good, right?"

"Right, Claire bear."

Tala felt as if she was imposing upon an important conversation between the two of them.

Claire reached over to the radio and put on Radio Disney, and Tala couldn't contain her visible cringe. Quil noticed, and shot her a death glare. Tala just slunk lower into her seat as Claire began singing along with some boy who had an unnaturally feminine voice.

"Quilly, sing with me!" she insisted, bouncing up and down in her car seat.

Quil let out a nervous laugh. "Claire bear, that's not such a great idea. I'm not as good as that beaver kid."

"Bieber, Quilly. It's Bieber." Claire corrected him, letting out a little pout.

"Right. Him." Quil kept his eyes glued to the road, doing the best he could to fight the invisible force that made him so inclined to look over at Claire's adorable face.

"_Pleeease, _Quilly?"

Quil chanced a glance over at Claire, who was giving him the cutest puppy dog face imaginable. He let out a sound that reminded Tala of a cat being strangled.

"Yeah, Quil, go ahead and sing. I'm sure you're not as bad as I am," Tala said, deeply amused at the amount of power a little girl who was barely a fifth of Quil's size had over him.

Quil grumbled, and began to mumble lyrics under his breath.

"I can't hear you, Quilly. And Tally said that it's okay." Claire said, reaching out her hand and poking Quil in the elbow repeatedly.

Quil's singing became a bit louder, just loud enough so that Tala could hear what he was saying.

"_Baby, baby, baby oh_…"

Tala stifled a snicker, and he glared at her in the rear view mirror. She shut up immediately, but her face was flushed from the effort it took her not to laugh at Quil, who had an incredibly deep voice and was singing a song by… well, Justin Bieber.

Tala looked out the window at the road while Claire squealed in delight at Quil's singing.

To Quil's immense relief, they pulled into Emily's driveway not sixty seconds later. He shut off the radio immediately, and Claire hopped out of the truck to run into the house.

Quil turned to Tala, and grimaced. "Don't breathe a word about this. Ever."

Tala feigned innocence. "About what?"

Quil's eye twitched. "About _me singing Justi-_ oh. Got it."

Tala smiled at him. "I thought you were fine; I sound like a dying chicken when I sing."

Quil let out a nervous chuckle. "Awesome. Let's head inside."

"Alright."

They sat in awkward silence for a bit.

"So, I kind of need you to not be on the chair I need to climb over to get out of the car."

"Oh. Oops... Sorry."

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><p>"And I put extra blankets right here just in case you get cold, okay?" Emily pointed to a chair heaped up with six more incredibly warm looking blankets- not that Tala actually needed them; the bed was already covered in ten blankets, at least, and Emily had insisted she wear her old flannel pajamas that had little wolves on them.<p>

"Thanks, Emily." Tala smiled at her, gazing out the window again at the short stretch of woods, and father away, she assumed, was the beach, for she could hear the faint crashing sound of waves against the shore.

"And if you need anything, don't hesitate in waking me up-"

Tala focused her attention on Emily again with a laugh in her voice. "Emily, I know. And you don't have to go to this much trouble; however clumsy I am, I'm sure I can get to the kitchen without killing myself to get a drink or something." She smiled genuinely at her. "Thank you, for everything. I don't know where I would have been carted off to if you couldn't have taken me in."

Emily smiled at her, her eyes tearing up just the tiniest bit. "That's what family is for, isn't it? Even if we are only distant cousins."

Then Sam called for her from the kitchen to talk about something, and Emily quickly wiped the tears away from her face as she smiled at Tala. Tala smiled back, and Emily shuffled out of the room after saying goodnight and giving Tala a tight hug.

Tala sat down on her window seat, leaning against the window pane. It was freezing cold compared to her regular body temperature, and as she breathed, the moisture of her breath clung to the pane under her nose in a foggy cloud, fading away and coming back, and fading away and coming back, in a never-ending cycle in time with her breathing. She closed her eyes for a moment, and strained her ears to listen for the waves again. _Shh... shh... shh... shh…_ the waves crooned, as if part of a lullabye. Tala drifted off to sleep leaning on the window, her arms wrapped around herself in a comforting embrace, her injured foot dangling down and touching the floor. Her curly brown hair covered her face, shielding it from anyone looking into the window, and the white bandage covering her arm glowed in the light of the half-moon.

Tala woke from the frightening cold. She jerked her head up, and whacked it on the corner of the window. She cursed, rubbing the spot which would now have a bruise, as her vision cleared from her groggy and blurred sleep. She glanced at the clock, its glowing numbers illuminating that it was much too early to be awake yet. _1:30_. She sighed, and scooted upright into a more comfortable position on the seat. Her breath clouded into little sheep that drifted lazily away from her, disappearing as they moved farther away into the room. Tala glanced outside again, the moon brushing the treetops as it slowly set into nothingness. She heard a little whine from right below her window. Startled, and very intrigued, she looked down to see a looming grey figure on four legs. _The wolf!_ Tala realized. She decided that this must be just a dream. No wolf was that big, and no wolf would just saunter up to a house like that. She opened her window, and slowly, agonizingly slowly, she swung her crutches to the outside of the house and lightly lowered herself down onto them. Her toes glanced across the frozen dew on the grass, and she shivered, a sudden chill running up her spine, not unpleasantly.

"Hey, boy. What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Tala asked, still a good five feet from the wolf, if not more.

The wolf made a sneezing sound in response, as if to say "No, silly".

Tala hummed in amusement. "I'm sorry for hitting you with my truck, you know. I don't even know how it happened; you were just there all of a sudden. I'd take it back, if I could, you know." The wolf seemed as if it was actually listening.

_Absurd, really._ Tala let out a little laugh, and the wolf looked at her with a scrunched up forehead, like it was raising its eyebrows in question.

"What? It's nothing- kind of odd, though. That you're here. It's probably just a dream, I know, but I'm glad that somebody's here for me. Somebody who will listen…" Tala choked up at that part, afraid to cry, afraid to show weakness to this odd character that seemed to be haunting her in a rather nice way.

Immediately, he was by her side, his cold wet nose a comforting presence on her hand, his eyes looking at her like she was the best thing that had ever existed. She scratched his nose, almost without really thinking about it.

"Cars are terrifying. I'm surprised I had enough guts to drive here from Seattle, after what happened to Mom and Dad. They got in a car crash too, you know," she confided to the shaggy grey mass next to her. "It wasn't like me, though. The police just found their car in the ocean three days after they were supposed to have returned from LA. Apparently, they drove off the cliffs while coming home and drowned." Tala frowned, and looked at the wolf's large, trusting brown eyes, and she said the one thing that scared her beyond anything else.

"I visited to the crash site, you know. And I'm no crime scene investigator or anything, but the cliff guards lining the cliff? They weren't broken, didn't have a scratch on them. The police didn't even say anything about the bodies either." She hiccupped, and quickly brushed away a tear. She would _not_ cry in front of her friend, as imaginary as he may be.

The wolf whined, and cuddled into her side. She hiccupped again. "I miss them so much," she whispered as she began to cry.

Quiet, choking sobs wracked her small body, making her crutches, arms, and legs shake like leaves in a brutal wind. Her eyes screwed up in pain, and her face began to turn a blotchy red color from her crying. Softly, the wolf took her pajama sleeve into his mouth and tugged her to the porch, where she sat down with a loud thump, the crutches falling uselessly to the ground in front of her as she hugged the great creature sitting next to her.

Tala's cries were muffled in the beast's thick warm fur, and he hugged her back the best he could with his giant head, agitated that he could do nothing else to calm his girl down.

Tala mumbled something into his shoulder after a while. To the regular person, it would have sounded something like "'m flurry," but he heard what she had said clearly. He cocked his head as if to say 'Sorry for what?'

She laughed into his fur, sniffling, igniting a pleasant shiver to crawl down his spine and puff up his tail just the slightest bit. "For crying all over you. I'm not usually like this, I'm just _so_ confused and-"

The wolf pulled back and looked at her. _You have all the reason in the world to cry, love. I just wish I could do something to fix it._

Tala rewarded him with a watery smile, like she'd heard what he had thought. "You're amazing, you know. I wish you were real, and not just a dream."

_Just because you might be dreaming, doesn't mean that it isn't real._

Tala laughed a funny-sounding laugh. "You sure know your books, alright. Harry Potter- the seventh one. Dumbledore said that."

He smiled at her, a toothy grin.

She wrapped her arms around him again, and curled up close to him. "Don't leave, okay?" she murmured, exhausted from her cry and the past few days in general.

_Never..._

* * *

><p>A soft knock woke Tala up that next morning. Startled, she sat up quickly, and managed a slurred 'Come in'.<p>

Emily opened the door, carrying an enormous tray of breakfast. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty."

Tala smiled sleepily at her, and glanced at the clock. _12:30_. She yelped, and went to spring out of bed, but Emily gave her a look that froze her in mid-movement.

"It's Saturday. Stay in bed. Sam found your crutches outside near the porch when he went to work today, and you were in here asleep."

Tala's eyes widened. "So it _wasn't_ a dream! The wolf actually came!"

Emily looked at her, set the breakfast tray down on Tala's knees, and, shoving the pile of blankets to the floor, sat down on the chair by her bedside. "Wolf?"

Tala tried her best to explain what had happened. "...and I hugged him and I cried for a long while, and well, I just fell asleep. And now I'm here." She shrugged. "It was all very surreal." _Not that I minded it,_ Tala thought with a small smile. She looked at Emily. "You believe me, don't you?"

Emily smiled at her. "Of course." Her tone of voice still held a hint of doubt, but Tala ignored it.

Tala finally turned her eyes to the tray sitting in front of her: a blueberry muffin and butter, three pancaked with strawberries on the side, and a tall glass of orange juice sat in front of her, arranged just like in a restaurant. "Oh my gosh, Emily. This looks so wonderful. Thank you!"

Emily beamed. "I'm glad! It's a new buttermilk pancake recipe I'm trying out, and you're my only hope of actually getting an answer of whether it tastes good or not." She sighed wistfully. "The boys usually just scarf it down without even tasting it." She looked eagerly at Tala. "Go on, try it!"

Tala giggled, and with some difficulty, picked the fork up with her right hand and cut a small piece of the pancake with the side of the fork, and popped it into her mouth with a strawberry. Tala turned towards Emily, and suddenly demanded "Open a restaurant. You'll become a millionaire in no time."

Emily's laughter filled the quiet house. "You're too cute!"

"No, I'm serious!" Tala insisted. "I'd _live_ there!"

Emily opened her mouth to reply, but just then the front door opened and closed, and the formerly quiet house was no longer very quiet, suffice to say.

"Emilyyyy!" a voice whined pitifully.

Emily snorted, and stood up. "Come on out when you're dressed and everything, okay? If you need any help _at all_, call me, okay?"

Tala smiled. "Okay."

"Emmmmmm!" another voice called.

"I'm coming, you pigs!" Emily called. She grinned at Tala and then exited her room.

A few minutes later, you could hear a large chorus of cheering, and the occasional cry of 'Food!'.

Tala smiled to herself, and finished off her breakfast. Carefully placing the tray and empty dishes at the foot of her bed, she swung both her feet out of bed and grabbed ahold of the bedpost, doing a quirky one-footed hop over to the chest of drawers. She retrieved her usual clothing, and did her best to put it on with two useless left limbs. It took her a bit longer than usual, and it was around one-fifteen when she finally emerged from her room, hopping on her right foot while she attempted to bring the food tray back into the kitchen.

The sight that she opened her door to was not unlike yesterday: the unnaturally buff men were crowded around the small TV set, hollering at their favorite teams that were playing; Emily in the kitchen baking every single thing possible; and the rain pouring down outside, making the dirt mud and the dirty air smell clean and fresh.

Tala hopped on one foot towards the kitchen again, the tray balanced on her right hip, her right hand holding onto the other side of the tray a bit more firmly than necessary. The loud thump her socked foot made on the wooden floor turned the heads of everybody in the room. It was also met with a large chorus of smiles and slightly obnoxiously loud 'good mornings' (in Seth's case, at least).

Tala smiled at them, murmuring a quiet good morning and swaying there awkwardly.

The front door opened and closed. A loud voice boomed out "Seth, your turn! Paul is being a total pain in the ass, and-" Embry noticed Tala standing there awkwardly, and a goofy grin replaced his slightly annoyed look. "Hey, Tala."

"Hi," she replied meekly, shuffling her foot side to side in an attempt to make a quieter getaway to the kitchen.

Embry quickly took notice of Tala's predicament and swooped in and took the tray from her. He smiled sappily at her. "Want help getting over to the couch? They're doing curling right now."

"Er-" she was surprised this stranger was acting so nice to her. She had only met him yesterday, and that had been quite the awkward experience.

By the time she'd shaken herself out of her own thoughts, he had returned from the kitchen, and softly touched her elbow to guide her to the couch, where there was one spot left, Seth having just left.

"You can have my spot; I can sit on the floor."

Tala blinked. "Thank you…?" She was confused. "You don't have to, you know-"

"Yes I do," Embry insisted, and he went to go get a glass of water for both him and Tala.

The rest of the group began laughing the second Embry left the room, all eyes on Tala.

"What?"

_These people are crazy_, Tala decided. She smiled then. _Not the bad crazy, though- the good kind. _

"No, no, no, no, _no_! How could you have missed that? You were _so_ damn close!" Sam threw a chip at the screen, and Jake slammed his fist down on his knee, hard. He winced.

Meanwhile, the rest of the house cheered.

_Is this what a real family's like? If so…_ Tala smiled as she decided that she would root with Sam and Jacob.

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><p>So, how was that?<p>

Again, thank you to **MySuperAwesomePenName** for being a marvelous BETA!

Also: would you like me to respond to your reviews by PM or on my Authors Notes?

And more: I posted this, and then read like fifteen other fan fictions with the main character's name as Tala. Should I change it, or keep it the same? I want to change it but I've already posted, and...

Anyway, Happy Friday the 13th!

Fun Fact: In Germany (apparently), they think Friday the 13th is a lucky day!

Until the 20th,

Pichi


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts! It really makes a sick author happy! I'm constantly sick, and it makes writing a bit difficult and strenuous. I will keep up with my updates as well as I can, and hopefully it doesn't inconvenience you too much. Enjoy, and have a great day!

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><p>Crash<p>

Chapter 3

"Emily, can we go to the beach today? It's not raining." Tala said, lounging stretched out on the strangely empty couch.

Emily looked up from her cookbook, from which she was currently attempting to learn how to make a three-tiered cake with buttercream frosting. "Why not? I could definitely use a break from this." She tossed her apron aside and grabbed her jacket. "Let's go!"

Tala smiled and grabbed her crutches. She began to head over to the car, and as she waited for Emily to come outside, she noticed that the air smelled like pine trees and ocean salt. She loved it.

"Ready?" Emily exited the house and opened the passenger door for Tala.

Tala froze. "You mean we're driving?"

"Why wouldn't we? It might rain."

"Um…" Tala let out a shaky breath. "Couldn't we just bring an umbrella if it rains?" she asked weakly.

Emily looked into the mismatched eyes of her cousin, and saw the fear she was trying so unsuccessfully to hide. She smiled. "Sure. Besides, walking _is_ better for the environment." She closed the car door after grabbing a large umbrella from the glove box.

When Tala thought Emily was not looking, she let out a sigh of relief, and took one last uncertain look at the car before swinging her body on the crutches to catch up with Emily.

The soft crunch of the gravel and the soft huffs of her breath became a steady rhythm to her, as she placed her foot down every left foot crunch (from Emily), and swung on each huff of breath (from the both of them).

"So did you have a boyfriend in Monterey, Tala?" Emily inquired, turning her head to face her, both eyes sparkling, the edges of her scars turning white from her smile.

Tala snorted disdainfully. "No." S_wing, foot. Swing, foot. Swing, foot._ "Nobody really wanted to get to know me. I was that weird girl who liked animals more than people."

Emily looked at her in surprise. "But you're so open and nice with Sam and me."

Tala shrugged. "I know you guys. You two are practically family." She paused. "Okay, so _you're_family. Sam isn't, yet." She shot a knowing look at Emily, who grinned back.

"I know. Everyone thinks he's going to propose to me on my birthday in September."

Tala giggled. "That's so cheesy, but totally sweet at the same time. Just let me know if he ever hurts you. I'll beat him up." She let out a breathy laugh.

Emily's smile faltered a little for a second, but just as quickly regained its simple, beautiful brilliance. "With what, those crutches of yours?"

Tala snorted. "No. Maybe I'll just hire a hit man."

Emily laughed, and pointed out to the left. "There's First Beach! Do you want to go there, or…?"

Tala didn't particularly care which beach they went to. "Sure, this one's fine."

The sand did not help Tala in any way as she made her way slowly across the soft, dry sand, heading towards the wet sand where she could walk with more ease and find sea shells.

Emily lagged behind, looking over at the curve of the ocean, her eyes glinting, a smile playing softly on her lips.

Tala wasn't watching where she was going, so it was understandable that when she bumped into a very tall, half-naked _somebody_, she let out a high pitched shriek and almost fell over.

Embry grinned as he caught her just in the nick of time. "Careful there, Tala."

Tala's cheeks flushed a roaring red, along with the space between her eyes and a little spot on her forehead. She stuttered, "Guh-"

Embry continued talking as if he hadn't been fazed. "What're you doing down here? Is Emily with you?"

Tala felt as if his questions were crushing her, like in a the piano that smashes the cartoon.

Embry seemed to notice and shut his mouth, smiling nervously.

Tala tried hard to respond appropriately. "Um, I'm looking for shells, and Emily's back there-" she pointed, teetering on her crutches. Embry steadied her with a large, hot hand, and she reeled back as if she had been burned.

"Wow, you're burning up! Are you sick or something? Why don't you have a shirt on? You're going to freeze! And why aren't you wearing shoes? Wh-" Embry interrupted her, covering her mouth with his hand.

"I'm not sick. Quileute's have this sort of gene thingy where we've got really high body temperatures, hence the missing shirt and shoes." He uncovered her mouth and smiled.

"...Okay." Tala believed him, though she didn't really know exactly why.

"Tala! Look at what I found!" Tala turned, and saw Emily running up, something in her hand. "Isn't this a pretty shell?" She unfurled her hand, and there in the center of her palm was a small, bright orange shell.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Embry said enthusiastically.

Tala agreed. "If I found another, I could make you earrings out of them," she said.

"Really? That would be so lovely!" Emily gushed, her smile lighting up her scarred face.

Tala giggled at tiny bit, enormously self-conscious of Embry standing close enough to her that she could feel the heat radiating off of him. She tried to shuffle away from him, but Emily stood right on her other side, making it nearly impossible. _Are they doing this on purpose?_ Tala groaned inwardly.

"Hey, are you okay?" Embry looked at her, genuine concern shining in his eyes.

_Did I just groan out loud? ...Crap._ "Um… I'm fine." Tala let out an embarrassed and nervous chuckle.

Emily smiled a secret looking smile as she went off to go look for another bright orange shell.

Embry just grinned at her. "So when do you start school on the reservation?"

"I don't, actually. I'm doing a sort of homeschool thing for Forks High, so that I only have to go in twice a week for-"

Embry growled. "Forks? Why there?"

"They have a special vet program that allows me to go to the Junior College in Sea-"

"Why _Forks_, though?" Embry asked, seeming like he desperately wanted to know.

Tala gawked at him incredulously. "Is it even any of your business?"

"Actually, yeah. It is!" Embry half-snarled. His hands balled into fists.

Tala gaped at him in disgust. "You don't even _know_ me! It's none of your business!"

"Embry, I think you should leave. Now." Emily commanded as she seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Embry glared at them both, though his look softened a little for Tala, and then he took off, running into the woods.

Tala turned to Emily. "Never leave me alone with him again."

Emily just sighed. "Okay. We should start heading back though. I need to make dinner, and you need to get ready for your first day of school tomorrow." She smiled excitedly. "We'll be leaving at seven thirty sharp, okay? You can take a bath when we get home tonight; I'll wrap your cast and arm for you."

Tala smiled at her. "Okay." She paused. "Are you this nice to everybody? Because if you are, you're like Mother Teresa- except, you know, not."

Emily laughed and stooped to pick up another shell. "No, not everybody. I'm only nice to nice people."

"And how do you dictate that? Do you have a moral compass or something?"

"No! It's in the eyes. You can always tell what somebody is like from their eyes."

"Really? What about me, then?"

Emily stopped her walk and looked Tala deep into the eyes. "You're a beautiful person, Tala, even though you may not think so. You are one of the most amazing people I know, besides Sam. You're strong."

Tala blushed. "You got all that from my eyes?"

"Mostly."

"Can I try with you?"

Emily giggled. "Sure, but when we get back to the house. It looks like it's going to rain soon." She pointed out to sea, where storm clouds gathered in the quickly darkening sky.

"Race you, Em!" Tala took off, getting a regular rhythm into the swinging of her body on her crutches.

Emily laughed and began to speed walk after her.

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><p>Luckily, the rain only began to pour down crazily the second after Emily and Tala entered the house, the latter very out of breath.<p>

Emily handed her a glass of water, and she gratefully downed it in an instant. They listened to the rain pounding against the roof for a while before Tala set her cup down in the sink.

"Ready for your bath?"

"Sure," Tala smiled.

She helped find plastic bags to wrap her cast in, and they clamped the bags watertight with large, thick rubber bands that held broccoli together when they came in to the super markets.

Emily began helping Tala undress, raising her eyebrows curiously at a short, fat scar on the girl's lower hip.

"What happened there?"

"Do you want the real story, or the story I told anybody who asked?"

Emily laughed. "Both."

"I actually fell down the stairs at the library."

"Well, what did you tell the people who didn't know the truth?"

Tala grinned. "I told them I got it while rock climbing."

Emily snorted, and drew the bath for Tala as she sat on the edge of the tub, wrapped in a fluffy beige towel.

A flash of lighting raced across the sky, the thunder following not a second after. Another two lightning flashes came, the power sizzling out on the third.

Emily quickly lit the bathroom candles with some matches, and the soft light they emitted turned the room odd and gloomy, making her scars appear more prominent and scary than they really were.

Tala got into the bath, and Emily sat on the toilet seat, making sure Tala didn't hurt herself. It was silent for several minutes, but it was a comfortable silence, only broken by the loud crashing of thunder and the quiet ripples of the water when Tala shifted in the tub.

"When my leg gets better, can we go out and dance in a thunderstorm?"

Emily simply smiled at the odd question. "Why not?"

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><p>Dinner at the Uley house was a large event: the table was covered in dishes piled with steaming food, every place was set with all kinds of cutlery, and napkins were piled high in anticipation.<p>

"Do you do this for dinner every day?" Tala inquired. She was sitting on the couch, holding a bag of ice onto her right hand with the other.

"No, only on special occasions. Today because you're going to school tomorrow and we-"

"You mean you?" Tala interjected.

"-wanted to celebrate." Emily finished as she rolled her eyes at Tala, who was gazing at the burns on her fingertips from where she'd tried helping the cook.

"The boys will be here soon," Emily said, eyeing Tala's pajamas.

Tala groaned. "I don't want to change." Even so, she got up and went to her bedroom.

For once in her life, Tala was blessed with extremely good timing. The second she closed the door to her room, the pack burst through the front door and Embry immediately asked where Tala was.

"Changing."

His face turned red, and Quil elbowed him in the stomach.

In her room, Tala struggled to put her sweatpants on, the fabric chaffing uncomfortably on her burnt fingers as she tried to yank the pants up her legs. She opted to keep her large white shirt displaying a drawing of large headphones on, just because she was lazy.

Tala opened the door to her room and sneakily went past the group of guys (as sneakily as a person could with crutches and messed up hands) and sat down on a barstool, willing herself to blend in with the wallpaper.

As it turns out, no such luck.

"Hi, Tala!" Seth bellowed.

She visibly cringed and mumbled a 'hello' while the rest of the pack of boys greeted her. Embry came over and smiled at her, sitting in the chair next to her._ Please go away, please go away, please-_

"Hey."

_...Damn._

"Hi," Tala said gruffly, quickly grabbing a random piece of food from the many dishes still on the kitchen counter and shoving it in her mouth to, hopefully, stall a conversation. She was still peeved from their previous argument at First Beach.

"So, I was wondering, maybe, do you want to go-"

"Embry!" Sam said sharply, shaking his head at him with a look that seemed to ooze _Too soon, man. Way too soon._

"-...watch TV?" Embry finished lamely.

Tala glanced at him and shook her head. "Already watched like, five hours of TV today since I burned my hand," she mumbled around the cheese ball that was currently stuck in her teeth.

"You burned your hand? Oh my god, are you okay? Where on your hand did you burn it? Is it okay?" Embry blurted out.

Tala leaned away from him a little, surprised at the sudden flurry of questions that had just spewed from his mouth.

"Er, here?" She held out her hand.

Embry grabbed it and looked at it, appearing like he was also experiencing the pain. "I'm so _sorry_, Tala. It looks so painful."

"I've had worse," she reminded him, holding up her cast and nodding at her crutches.

"I know, but still," he said vehemently.

Tala sighed.

"Dinner!" Emily called from the dining room. There was a loud cheer from all the men, and loud stampeding as they all ran to the table and sat down.

"Do you need help getting to the table, Tala?"

"Um, no, I'm fine." She slid off of the stool, grabbed her crutches and began to slowly make her way to the table. Embry followed close behind.

Dinner began, but Tala got lost in the first five minutes. It was like a feeding frenzy from out in the ocean or something. By the time she reached for the plate of food in front of her, it was always either gone or empty. This happened various times, and she sighed in annoyance, sitting and waiting for the others to serve themselves. This turned out to be a not-so-good idea: once everybody was done serving themselves, every single dish had been wiped clean.

Tala sighed again, folded her hands up in her lap, and sat there politely as she waited for them to finish their dinner, thinking that it was one of the most hectic and loud dinners she had ever experienced.

About five more minutes into the feeding of the ravenous group, Embry apparently noticed that Tala wasn't eating, and that her plate was already empty. "You eat really fast, Tala!"

Tala blinked owlishly at him. "Um, actually, I didn't get anything to eat, so-"

This time, it was Embry's turn to blink at her in surprise. "Here, you can have my food." He smiled hesitantly at her and held out his plate that was piled sky high with food.

"Oh, um-" she began to stutter. She took in a deep breath and began gain. "Er, no th-thanks, I'm good-"

Embry looked at her with a rather chastising look. "You need it more than I do. You have to heal, and I don't."

He began to pile her plate up with his food, even as she protested.

The table became silent all of a sudden as they all stared at Embry.

"You _never_ give anybody food, Embry!" Seth said, a caper falling out of his mouth and bouncing off the table to land on the floor. "_Ever!_"

"Well, she didn't get any food, and she looked really hungry so...-" Embry began to turn a dark, firetruck red, and looked anywhere but at his plate of food.

Tala looked around at the table incredulously. "You all eat this much _every single day_?"

"Um, well, more on weekdays, usually, so-"

"You guys eat like…like…" Tala couldn't find the correct word, and then she happened to glance at the picture of a wolf on the mantelpiece. "Like _wolves_!"

The silence around the table was broken by a flurry of nervous chuckles.

Tala looked at them all like they were crazy. "What?"

Emily and Sam just smiled and shook their heads knowingly.

"No seriously, what?"

Paul snickered, and Leah smirked.

"Okaaay, then," she said reluctantly.

Then Seth giggled.

Tala let out a breath of annoyance and threw her hands up. "_What?_!"

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><p>So, there's Chapter Three! Hope you liked it! Review if you please! Constructive Criticism is delicious. :D<p>

Until the 27th!

Pichi


	4. Chapter 4

Okey doke! Here's Chapter four! I'm super happy at how this one turned out. I feel like my writing is slowly getting better. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who reviewed! Oh, also, waaaaaay back from a chapter 1 Review from "bcrepn": Bellaesque how? it would be really nice if you explained that out, so I can change it, because if you hadn't noticed from my disclaimer a few chapters back... I REALLY DON'T LIKE BELLA. yeahh... haha. well, hope you enjoy!

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><p>Crash<p>

Chapter 4

As the clock on her bedside table ticked from _11:59_ to _12:00_, Tala found that she _still_ couldn't fall asleep. She groaned, rolling over onto her stomach, her face towards the large window as she let out a long breath through her lips, making her sound a bit like a horse. Tala grabbed her pillow and planted her face in it, muffling an annoyed scream. She was starting school in less than eight hours and she hadn't slept at all. She extracted her face from the pillow, closing her brown eye and looking over at her bedside chair with her green one. Before going to bed, Emily had placed some clothes out for Tala: black pants, a bright blue shirt, and her usual black jacket. Her bright orange tiger hat was hanging off the doorknob. With nothing else to do, Tala began to quietly sing the last song she'd heard on the radio before it had gone into static earlier that evening.

"_Be okay, be okay, I just wanna be okay today_… _something, something, la la la_-" Her rather off-key mumble singing was halted suddenly when she heard the front door squeak open faintly, large feet padding into the house.

She immediately stopped all movement, and as quietly as she could, slowly sunk into her sheets, pretending to be asleep. She heard nails clack across the floor and grabbed the heavy, metal flashlight that was sitting by her bedside. _Sam's home and Emily never left! I'll turn it on high blast when they come in and scare them, and then I'll throw the lamp at them. Hopefully-_ The door to her bedroom squeaked open, and she stopped all train of thought, all breathing. She could have sworn her heart stopped beating.

The footsteps of the intruder sounded calm as they padded up to her, and just as she was about to jump out and try to maim the unknown villain, a cold, wet nose poked at her hand.

Tala let out a huge breath. "Oh my gosh, you dumb dog! You scared the crap out of me, you piece of sh-"

The wolf let out a quiet growl, and Tala peeked over at it. He was different today; instead of his usual happy aura, he seemed angry and depressed.

"Well, what are you doing? Don't dogs-"

He glared at her again.

"Wolves," she corrected, while scooting over to the side of her bed. "Don't wolves or whatever like sitting on beds?" She patted the mattress. "I'm positive that Emily won't notice. You'll blend right in with all the weird wolf décor that she's got."

The wolf gave her another halfhearted glare, and jumped up onto the bed. Tala smiled and scratched him behind the ears. "What's wrong, buddy? You don't look happy at all today. Having girl troubles or something?"

He looked at her with his big, brown eyes and scooted closer, laying his large head down on her stomach and letting out a long, slow breath.

Tala nodded and continued stroking his head, working her way down to the soft underside of his belly. His leg twitched involuntarily as she scratched him right under his ribs, and he raised his head and looked at her in surprise, like he didn't know why his leg was doing that. "I see, and how do you feel about that?" Tala asked, not aware of his surprised look, thinking that his twitching leg was something that all dogs did.

The wolf just stared at her, and when her hand went back to scratching at his ear, he rested his head back down, closing his eyes and smiling as best he could.

Tala pretended that he could talk. "And why do you think she's doing that?"

The wolf looked at her. _How could she know what he was thinking? Oh wait. He im-_

"Well, maybe if you just tell her that she's special and you don't want her doing dangerous things-"

He rolled his eyes. _Like you would listen anyway, Tala._

"Well, okay, so she's sort of stubborn, but she loves you back, right?

_No! You barely even know I exist. Okay, so you do know I exist, you just don't like me a whole lot. I have the feeling you don't like what I am half the time._

"So then, ask her somewhere nice. Go running by the river and catch some squirrels or something. How am I supposed to know what wolves do on dates? Or just, you know, be nice."

_I _am_ nice! You think we're all on drugs!_

"Who in their right mind would think you're crazy?"

_You, apparently._

"I'm sorry. Maybe she's not right."

_But you are, though! I know you are, because you're the most amazing, nicest, best-smelling—okay that was a little creepy. But you're perfect. Nobody else could live up to you._

"Aww, you're so sweet. She's a lucky wolf."

_I really hope you're not a wolf._

Tala smiled down at the wolf. "You need a name. Seriously. I keep calling you 'doggie', but you aren't one, sooo…"

He glared at her, then made a face like he was smiling and wagged his tail.

"Bipolar, much? You remind me of that one guy. Embry. Like, seriously. You've got the same mood swings, and your eye color kind of looks like his."

_You have absolutely _no_ idea._

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><p><em>Crunch, crunch, crunch. Swallow. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Swallow<em>.

Tala stared blank-eyed at the cereal box, black circles under her heavy eyes. Her hat rested low on her head, flattening out her side bangs to cover up her eyes, making her seem all the more exhausted. She let out a huge, slow yawn and her tired eyes drifted over to the clock on the microwave. _7:00_. She had half an hour until Emily would take her to school. Bleck.

With slow, tired movements, she worked her way over to the couch and turned the TV on. Half-lidded eyes stared out at the television set, the people on the screen swimming in and out of focus as Tala yawned and tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

"-_an explosion in north-east Seattle, rumored to be a gas tank explosion, is now confirmed. Witnesses recall seeing a pale character running from the direction of the explosion site just moments before_-"

Tala changed the channel.

"-_family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you_-"

_Click._

"_Yeah, he was tall, with damned dark hair. His eyes though, he must have had light eyes cause nobody can wear red contacts 'cept light eyed people_." The guy on screen was tall, with a flannel jacket and jeans. He was wearing a leather necklace.

The camera cut back to the reporter, and she smiled at it before continuing her spiel. "_Someone managed to get a recording of the man as he ran away from the site. John, if you will?_" She smiled a second time before the screen changed to a crude, low-quality video of a man running past. The image froze right as his face became focused.

Tala was no longer half asleep as she stared at the figure on the TV in front of her. His long face, the dark mop of hair and high cheekbones that she knew so _well_-

The screen went back to the reporter, whose name was Judy. "_If anybody has any information regarding this man, please call the toll-free number below_."

Tala quickly read the numbers. _1(707) 331 8430_. She searched for the phone while trying to memorize it. The phone was all the way across the room. _Crap._ She swore, and tried hitting the pause button on the remote control. It didn't work. A message popped up on the screen.

Warning 505:

You do not have this feature available.

For more information please call the number

on the front flap of your cable booklet.

Tala swore more heavily this time, and got up and grabbed the kitchen phone. She looked back at the screen, but the credits for the news hour were already rolling and a comedy show was starting in the corner. Angered, she punted the phone across the room into the hallway, right at Sam's head.

Sam ducked expertly and snatched the phone out of the air before it smashed against the wall. He looked at Tala, more than mildly concerned. "What's up, Brooks?" he asked, using his nickname for the currently freaked out teenager standing in the middle of his living room and trying to destroy the phone.

Tala released a freaked out breath. "I… nothing…" she shook her head, thoroughly confused. "I just saw something on TV that scared me."

Sam chuckled. "Was it Judy's hairdo?" he asked jokingly, trying to relieve the tension Tala was exuding.

"No." She was not amused.

Sam's smile faded. "What's wrong, Tala? What happened?"

Tala let out another frantic breath and relayed to him what she had seen on the television.

"So, the explosion freaked you out enough to throw our only house phone across the room?"

Tala cringed. She didn't want to tell Sam about the man. "….Yes?"

Sam sighed. "Alright, but next time, please throw something that isn't expensive or breakable, okay?"

Tala mumbled an apology, ashamed.

"Emily doesn't feel good and I have work, so I asked one of the guys to take you to school today."

Tala's stomach dropped down to the center of the Earth. "What?"

Sam repeated himself, adding that it was in fact Embry that was driving her to school.

"No! Not that kind of 'what', the other kind! As in, 'are you freaking kidding me?'"

Sam sighed. "He's a nice guy, Tala. I don't know what it was like in California giving people rides, but here it's called being courteous. And you have to go to school."

"No I don't! I can always go tomorrow." Tala seriously began considering faking a stomachache to get out of many things, the least important being the ride, and the most important being school.

Sam sighed. "I know it's super different for you, Brooks, but you need to adapt. Change is difficult, I get it. Just… just try to be nice, okay?"

Tala scowled. "I don't care about that jerkwad. I just don't want to go to school with a broken arm and foot."

Sam opened his mouth to say something but was cut short by a knock on the door.

This was a very rare occurrence, when one's door was knocked on in La Push, and especially in this house.

"That'll be Embry." Sam smiled at Tala and walked into the bathroom.

Tala muttered curses at Sam under her breath and grabbed her messenger bag, swinging it over her shoulder and crutching over to the door to open it.

"Hey, Tala" he breathed out, and then spoke up again. "'twantyousickand-"

"And you're trying to convince me you aren't on drugs," Tala deadpanned.

Embry burned red, and closed his mouth. "I'm sorry." He squeaked out, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. "Er… sorry. And good morning."

Tala grunted in response. _He's on steroids and speed, at least. Maybe even on something else._ "Morning. Nice car." Her words were clipped and short, her adrenaline rush from her earlier scare wearing off, making her feel even more tired than she had been earlier.

Embry glowed with pride. "I named it Venkman."

"After Peter in _Ghostbusters_?"

"You're the first to get it without me explaining it!" He seemed way too excited.

"Oh, joy."

Forks High School was smaller than Tala's old high school, no doubt about it. It looked boring from the outside, except for the instance when a girl in a black jacket knelt down by the Welcome Sign and disappeared, leaving a still-drying spray paint green "Sp" on the glass in front of the F in Forks.

Tala cracked a smile. _Welcome to Sporks High_.

Embry opened the car door for her. "Sooo, do you maybe need a ride back?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"Um… I don't know-"

"Okay, I'll pick you up at three!"

"Eh? but-!"

Embry jumped into his car and drove off.

"Oh, f-" Tala just stood there awkwardly in the parking lot with her bag next to her on the floor and a confused look on her face. _I brushed my teeth; my breath wasn't _that_ bad, was it?_

"Hi! You must be the new girl, Tala! I'm Alice, and this is my boyfriend, Jasper!" Tala swung around, tripping over her bag and almost face planting into the ground. Strong cold hands caught her, and when she looked up into the smiling face of a pixie-like girl with a large grin on her face, she quickly turned a bright shade of red.

Tala quickly righted herself and shifted awkwardly on her crutches. "Um, hi…." She smiled uncomfortably at them.

"You're really interesting. We have the same first period class, and Jasper has classes with you the rest of the school day. We already checked."

Tala didn't like this girl very much. Too intrusive. "Oh. Um, that's cool. I think."

Alice laughed a tinkling bell laugh and clapped Tala on the shoulder. "I'll show you to your locker and then we can go to English."

Then Tala was dragged through the halls to locker 314, with Alice chatting the whole time. "-Port Angeles, and then we could go get ice creams or something after school, or we could go clothes shopping-"

"I, um... I already have a ride, thanks." Tala said quietly.

"Oh, really? With who? Is he cute?"

Tala pulled a face. "No. His name's Embry and he's such a creep. But I don't think Sam would appreciate me skiving off with people I don't know."

"We know Sam really well, actually! We haven't seen him in years, because we just moved back from Russia last year, but we knew each other a long, long time ago."

Jasper mumbled something, and Alice elbowed him in the gut, still smiling at Tala.

"Oh…Well, then I guess… maybe, but I'd have to call him first, and…" Tala didn't want to go with them, but she didn't want to say anything and come off as rude or mean.

"If you don't want to come with us, you don't have to." Tala looked at Jasper in surprise. He had a nice voice.

"Er-"

"We wouldn't mind. After all, we do have forever to get to know each other!" Alice let out a high-pitched laugh.

Jasper elbowed her this time, sending her a warning glance.

_Is _everybody_ here on crack?_

Tala laughed nervously. "I'll ask Sam. Later. When I get home." She smiled awkwardly.

Alice smiled at her excitedly and then dragged her to first period English.

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><p>"So, tomorrow, don't forget to bring your books to class! We'll be learning about ribosomes and how RNA travels through the cell!"<p>

Tala quietly wrote a reminder about the textbook with her sloppy not-her-dominant-hand handwriting on the inside of her English book, Othello. The bell rang, and she put all of the textbooks she had received that day in her messenger bag, cramming it to the bags' very limit. She swore that she heard one of the seams rip.

As she haphazardly squeaked across the floor, desperately trying not to be the last one out of class (she was anyway), dragging her bag behind her, the door opened-

**WHAM.**

-and Seth began to talk. "So, I came to pick you up from school because Embry's busy, so-"

Tala raised her hand to her forehead in a sort of surprised daze. There was no blood, but she felt extremely dizzy.

"Oh my gosh, Tala I'm _so_ sorry! I didn't mean to, are you okay?" Seth was looking at her with an expression similar to one a person would have when they're about to get beat up.

Tala looked at him after a moment, then smiled awkwardly. "I'm fine. This sort of stuff happens to me all the time. It's normal." She let out a weak grin.

Seth continued to look traumatized.

Tala observed his facial expression. "Look, why don't you just carry my book bag to the car and we'll call it even, yeah?"

Seth shuddered after breathing in through his nose, and acquiesced.

As they were leaving the school in Seth's bright yellow car (well technically, it was his mom's), Seth mumbled something to himself that Tala only caught half of:

"… gonna _kill_ me!"

Tala looked at him in concern. "What?"

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><p>\m\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/

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><p>Awesome! So I'm in a really good mood, because I just watched one of my more favorite movies ever! Inception! Heard of it? Yes? Seen it? No? Go watch it! Extra brownie points if you do! ;)<p>

See you on the third! (which, Bee Tee Dubs, is my birthdaaaaaaaay! (so warnings ahead that I might update a day late, because I'll be doing things that don't have to do with computers.))

Ciao, Au Revoir!

Le Pichi


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, guys! I'm sick, so I decided to update earlier than usual (currently 7:30). I know that usually when you're sick you are able to write a bunch, but I ache all over. My _hair_ hurts. It's quite depressing. **MySuperAwesomePenName** has also been quite sick, so we've slowly dragged ourselves down the road to recovery. I have exactly three words done on Chapter 6. I'll do my best in getting it finished by next Friday, but no promises. Also! Happy February!

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><p>\m\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/

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><p>Crash<p>

Chapter 5

As the weeks passed by quickly, Tala found herself getting into the rhythm of things. Go to school Monday and Tuesday, stay home the rest of the week, and take a bus from Port Angeles into Seattle for her Junior College veterinary class on Friday. Pig out on Emily's delicious food on Saturday, cram on finishing homework Sunday night. And repeat. Again and again and again. The only thing that happened, almost habitually, every day was that the wolf visited her every night around ten, and left when she left for school.

On this particular day, however, Tala woke up alone. The wolf was not lying on her bed, or on the rug by it. He had been arriving later and leaving earlier every day now for the past three weeks. Feeling strangely uncomfortable being alone in her room without him, she slid out of bed, walking with both of her feet for the second time since the accident six weeks ago. Her left foot was finally healed, yet it was still pretty tender. She shuffled to her door, cracking it open and peering out with her startlingly green right eye.

It was a Friday, and the rain was pouring down as usual, the clouds attacking the house with such fervor it seemed almost impossible that the house was still standing. Quietly, she opened her door all the way and made her way to the kitchen, where she found a sack lunch next to a water bottle with a pink Post-It on it.

Tala peeled the Post-It off the bottle and quickly scanned the four nearly indecipherable rows of Sam's messy handwriting.

_Congrats on getting your cast off, Brooks._

_Have a great day at vet school._

_Sam_

_P.S. Happy Six-Months Early Birthday. Keys are in the lunch bag._

Tala's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline. "Keys?" She glanced out the large windows on the door and caught a glimpse of her black Jeep, fully-restored, sitting in the now misty outside.

"Oh my gosh." Tala was blown away. She smiled, and felt a wave of happiness and love towards Sam wash over her.

She floated out of the house like she was in a dream, the keys in hand. Her hand subconsciously rubbed against a worn-down dog tag as she hit the unlock button, as if to check that the car was really hers.

The Jeep's headlights blinked twice with a small "weep-weep" that echoed throughout the woods. Tala let out a disbelieving laugh and squeezed her keys in excitement, hitting the alarm key.

The alarm screeched out, and somebody let out a really loud F-bomb. Somebody who was not Tala.

She yelped in surprise, quickly shutting the alarm off and tilting her head to see who had yelled. She spotted a pair of faded jean cut-offs that, upon further inspection, led to a pair of dark brown legs and two bare feet that were sticking out from under her car.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so so so sorry, Sam! I didn't know you were under there!" Tala cried as she bit at her thumb anxiously.

The legs rolled out from under the car and instead of seeing Sam's older face, one that had small crinkles around the eyes, she came face to face with Embry Call.

"Hey, Tala." He smiled at her, a rosy hue on his cheeks and an emotion in his eyes Tala couldn't quite make out.

"Oh, it's you." Tala's voice visibly decreased in emotion, leaving it deadpan.

Embry's smile faded a tiny bit, his eyebrows knitting together, and he fumbled with the greasy, bright yellow rag he had in his hands almost anxiously. He swallowed, this time obviously nervous, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

Tala quickly averted her eyes from his neck, her nose and cheeks a soft shade of pink, embarrassed that she had been staring at him.

"Err…" His eyes flickered over her small body, then to the car, and back to her. "Is your car looking better? Because, if it isn't, I can always fix it and-"

"You fixed my car?" Tala interrupted, visibly surprised. "Why?"

He shrugged. "It obviously meant a lot to you, and I want to mean a lot to-" he stopped, but not before Tala knew what he had been going to say next.

Her cheeks turned a dark red, along with a stripe of the same color running from her hairline down her nose and chin to pool in a three-shades-lighter pink on her chest. "Oh, well, um-"

"Will you go on a date with me? Please?"

Tala was stunned into silence. Never had she met somebody so interestingly blunt - but maybe that was how all boys were; it wasn't as if she would know. Stupidly, she replied with the best question she could think of:

"Do I have to?"

Embry's hopeful and anxious face fell quickly into a depressed-looking one.

Too late, Tala realized what she had said, and the effect it had on the man standing before her.

"Oh, gosh. Embry, I didn't mean it like that, I-" She began, tripping over her words.

But it was too late; Embry had already disappeared from sight, and the closest way he could have left was through the woods.

"Oh, f-" Tala began, but then resolved that she couldn't let him go in the woods alone with no protection.

But then again, neither was she. Running a bit lopsidedly into the house, she went straight to Sam's bedroom, flinging the door open with a loud bang. She went straight to his sock drawer, tossing the contents through the air as she searched for the one item she was looking for.

_Dirty sock… clean sock… a pair of socks… boxers… cond- EW… Cosmo magazine- don't even want to know…_

When she picked up a bright green sock with blue squiggles, something heavy thudded against her wrist, and she smiled in triumph, bolting out of the room. She quickly threw on a pair of Emily's hard-core hiking boots and grabbed the first hat and jacket out of the closet, just as the light mist that had been gathering outside crackled with sudden electricity and the rain began its attack on the little world once again.

Grabbing another, heavier jacket for Embry, a rain jacket for her, and a large, heavy-duty flashlight, she raced out of the house and straight into the woods, flicking the flashlight on as she ran.

_Hurt… Pain… She can't stand me. She asked if she had to._

The wolf kept running, as far away from that place as he could get. He couldn't be there anymore. He wouldn't be able to control himself, and his girl would have been hurt. He kept running until he couldn't anymore, then collapsed onto the forest floor, exhausted.

"Embry! C-c-come on, Embry! Where are you? It's f-freezing out here!" Her only answer was the crackling of thunder, the only thing she saw was the small circle of light in front of her feet and the jagged lightning that seemed to be coming closer and closer to joining with the thunder.

The lightning flashed again, and Tala stopped to count the seconds. _One, two, three, fo-_ The thunder rolled over her in a loud, roaring wave, making the hairs on her neck stand on edge. "Barely a mile away. I need to keep moving."

And so she did. Faster, and faster she ran, tripping over roots and gnarled branches, always calling out for Embry.

_Warmth,_ the woman thought, her lips smiling. She turned to her companion, who mirrored her expression.

"Wait until it's closer. You never know what it may actually be. A pet, or something." The man said, his impossibly dark hair shining in a flash of lightning, his cheekbones more severe-looking than ever. His thin lips curled into a sneer.

The woman looked away again, searching through the trees for something. Suddenly she let out a soft laugh that was like music. Her rich, red-brown hair that curled almost impossibly perfectly whipped around her face, dancing with the wind. "You and I both know it isn't. She's just been with those mutts of a family for six weeks."

The man snickered at the jab, observing her face.

She looked back at him, smiling lovingly, her bright red eyes shining in the lightning-filled night. "Don't worry. After tonight, we can all be-" The man didn't let her finish the sentence, and forcefully pulled her towards him. He kissed her.

Embry woke up under the tree he passed out by. He was naked, and the rain was cold. Shivering, he sat up and grabbed a pair of soaked cut-off jeans that weren't torn to shreds and put them on. Shaking his body like a dog to get rid of excess water, he stood up and began jogging back to his house, unaware that he had missed being found by Tala by three minutes as she stumbled over the exact place he had been lying before.

She was so cold. The extra jacket she had brought for Embry was wrapped around her under, the rain jacket over it. She could no longer feel her nose, and her lips and fingers were tinged blue with cold.

"Embry!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "Embry! I'm sorry!" Her shout was drowned out with the roar of a thunderclap. She rested for a minute, then continued searching, unaware that Embry had just woken up moments ago under the very tree she was now under.

The woman pulled away, her red eyes shining with two different kinds of lust, her teeth pooling with venom. "It's time."

Embry arrived back at Sam's house thirty minutes later. All the lights were on and a police car was in front of it. His felt his stomach instantly drop to his feet.

"No," he choked out, bolting inside.

The second he saw him, Sam grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him so hard it was a surprise his head didn't roll right off his shoulders.

"_Where is Tala, Embry?_" He roared, his eyes manic.

"I don't know! I left the house earlier and that was the last time I saw her today!" he said, shoving Sam off of him.

"When was that, huh? Five hours ago? Ten? Twelve?"

Emily reached out for Sam's arm to try and calm him down, but he couldn't be stopped.

"I don't know, okay, Sam? I wasn't paying attention! She blew me off and I left!"

"You lef… you _left_?" Sam felt like murdering Embry. "You left, and she's nowhere to be found! The contents of my sock drawer are all over the floor of my room, and Emily's boots and three jackets are gone! She went to go find you - oh god, she's dead. She's dead."

Emily wrapped her arms around Sam comfortingly, her beautiful eyes shining with worried tears. "Sam, calm down; it's fine. Just get the pack out there and we can find her. She can't have gone that far."

Sam shook his head, trying to clear it. "Okay, okay. Call them. I want them to find her. If they don't, you'll have hell to pay, Embry." He grabbed his phone and hit a speed dial.

Fumbling for the phone in the jacket he had left on the couch, Embry called up Seth, who was the closest to Tala besides Emily and Sam.

"Hi, Embry! What's up?" Seth's cheerful voice thrust through the numbness he was feeling.

"We can't find Tala; she's out somewhere in the woods. Call everybody up. We have to find her." He hung up and sprinted out of the house, phasing as he passed the tree line.

Minutes later, four other wolves joined up with him. The tension was high, and not just because Tala was gone.

_I can't believe you imprinted on my sister, Paul._

_Well, it's not my fault!_

_Is too._

_Is not._

_Is too._

_Is n-_

_SHUT UP. We'll talk about this later, we need to find Tala._

The wolves split up in different directions. The rain had erased all smell of Tala. Embry felt empty. He didn't know where she was, and he couldn't even locate her scent. He couldn't find her.

She couldn't find him.

She was exhausted, but she could have sworn she had already passed that tree three times. Looking around for something she could leave as a way to know she'd been there, she grabbed three rocks, stacked them on top of each other, and placed a bright red leaf on top of them, holding it down with a smaller pebble organized into an almost-perfect circle. She got up from the ground and kept walking. The rain had already penetrated her jacket, and the two others did nothing to keep her warm; everything was completely soaked except for the very bottoms of her feet.

She walked for a while, and as she climbed up an uncannily familiar, small hill, she almost missed a very familiar set of three stones. She saw them out of the corner of her eye, and she approached them, almost scared. Instead of the leaf with a circle of pebbles, there was a piece of paper. The pebbles were in a heart formation.

Shaking, she lifted up the note, noticing that its letters were already starting to fade in the rain. But she could make out exactly what it said.

_Hello, sweetie._

Fear drenched her quicker than anything ever had before. Somebody was playing with her. These were the exact same three rocks, and the exact same pebbles. And look, the leaf that she had placed right there was strewn on the floor not two feet away. Her breath quickened and her heart pounded. Unbeknownst to her, the people watching her could hear her heartbeat, and it made them even the hungrier for her.

Throwing the note down, she pulled out the bright green sock she had stolen from Sam's drawer and pulled out a small, black box. It crackled with electricity when she flicked it on, and Tala smiled grimly. If somebody was trying to do something to her, she'd take them down first.

Embry ran. He ran so fast, he was almost afraid of not being able to stop in time. Through the rain, he had caught a whiff of the most putrid scent in the world. He knew what that scent was, and he knew that needed to find Tala before they did. He had to; his life depended on it.

Tala couldn't keep her eyes open. She kept tripping and falling half asleep. The last time she checked her watch, she'd found that it had stopped working at five PM. She supposed that that had been three hours ago. She passed the rock pile again, and shivered. She had to keep walking or she might die of hypothermia. _Keep going, keep going_. That was the only coherent thought going through her mind.

Her head was down, so she didn't notice the log she'd stepped down onto until it was too late. As she watched, her foot vanished through the log and she tumbled down a cliff, her scream piercing through the air and the illusion disappearing.

The man and woman untangled themselves from their embrace and took off flying towards the girl that was falling through the air.

_They had found her._

Embry didn't stop running, even as he felt his emotions go haywire. It was now a battle. A battle for Tala.

_Embry, don't just rush into things! Think about it first! _Sam said.

_Tell me that when she's safe, Uley! _He yelled, blocking out his voice and racing down the mountainside to his imprint.

Tala closed her eyes, knowing that she was going to die. But at the last second, something grabbed her and snatched her away from the cliff and back into the forest.

The man slammed Tala against a tree, and she coughed as his hand wrapped around her neck, choking her painfully. Lightning flashed through the stormy sky, and Tala could just make out another figure with red-brown hair and impossibly red eyes standing behind him. The lightning struck again, hitting a tree not twenty feet away from them, its entirety bursting into flames as if by special effects in a movie, though Tala knew it wasn't.

The third time lightning struck, it had already passed them by safely, but the thunder was deafening. Through the swift flicker of light, she finally saw the man's face. His black hair, high cheekbones… bright red eyes and pale lips curled into a sneer, with a tooth peeking out from his closed mouth that glistened with something Tala could not guess.

She knew this man, had known him her entire life. But he was supposed to be dead. Uncertainly and with difficulty, she spoke around her nearly crushed esophagus.

"Dad?"

His lips smiled even more cruelly. "Hello, sweetie."

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><p>\m\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/

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><p>Sooo, how was that? Favorite chapter of all time. Super proud of it. Thank you to the three reviewers I got for last chapter! You guys seriously made my day week. Reviews make me heal faster. :D<p>

And, just stating again, if you didn't read my above authors note: It's very very unlikely that Chapter Six will be up next Friday. I still have to write 3,000 words and have **MySuperAwesomePenName** read it through. Sorry! :(

Pichi's Weekly Story Suggestion:

_Boyfriend_ by **Molly Raesly**. It's a Harry Potter fanfic, and it's the best thing in the world, almost as amazing as Nutella. Molly also has two sequels out for _Boyfriend_.


	6. I hacked dis dummasses

LOL. I totally hacked dis account, fucknuts. I also changed da passworrd so this retard Twihard cant get on her fucking stupind account no more. hope all u dipshit necrophelliacs die in hell.


	7. lol fuktardssss

haha u guys are sooo stupid i cant believe ow dumasses you are. go fukin dieeee


	8. THe Endddd

k, so liek i know yu guyss are maaad at me, cuz i stole dis aaccount n everythin, but some chick was all like, hey, finish the story cuz ur a better auther than the original persin, so imma just finish it here:

that one fuked up Tala chick get raped by her dad and the creepo Embry dies. then bella comes back to life after dying and eats everybody. then edwerd kills her. the endd.


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